Asgard Therapeutics and a new route to cancer immunity

Asgard Therapeutics positions itself at the intersection of cell reprogramming and cancer immunotherapy. The company is pursuing a strategy to rewire tumour cells inside the patient into professional antigen presenting dendritic cells. The aim is to restore anti-tumour immunity by turning cancer cells into their own adjuvants. The approach is presented as an in vivo alternative to cell therapies that are manufactured and returned to the patient.

How the idea started and how the founders moved from lab to company

The scientific founders began collaborating in 2015 at the University of Coimbra in Portugal with a mutual interest in direct cell reprogramming and a drive to translate laboratory findings into therapies. In 2017 the founding team relocated to Lund University in Sweden. Asgard Therapeutics AB was incorporated as a Lund University spin-off in December 2018 with support from LU Holding AB. Cristiana Pires, a pharmacist by training who did her PhD in cell reprogramming, is the company’s co-founder and chief executive. In a July 2023 interview for the EIC Coffee Break series she described the founding as a deliberate pivot away from regenerative medicine applications of reprogramming toward immune modulation and cancer therapy.

Scientific progress and evidence so far

Asgard and affiliated academic groups published a series of preclinical studies establishing that a combination of factors can induce dendritic cell characteristics in mouse and human cells. Early publications include an induced dendritic cell study in Science Immunology in December 2018. Subsequent work published in 2022 and 2023 expanded on reprogramming in human cells and reported mechanistic insights. The company reports a publication showing reprogramming of over 60 mouse and human tumour cell types and papers describing restored tumour immunogenicity following DC reprogramming.

These papers constitute important preclinical validation steps. They document that reprogramming factors can induce key dendritic cell markers and antigen presentation features and that treated tumours in animal models showed anti-tumour responses. Such results are necessary but not sufficient to predict clinical success. The translational path will demand independent replication, robust delivery methods, dose control and a careful safety assessment.

Funding, grants and visible milestones

People, leadership and culture

In interviews Cristiana Pires emphasises the centrality of the founding team and team cohesion. She said she did not see herself remaining in academia long term and was drawn to translating science into patient impact. Pires credited her parents for instilling ambition and resilience and described being an expatriate as a driver to seize opportunities. She highlighted that fundraising was challenging and required sustained effort and iteration around pitches and investor conversations.

Personal details from the EIC Coffee Break profile include that Pires is reading How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie and that she would like to have lunch with Katalin Karikó because of Karikó’s foundational work on RNA and the role that had in vaccine development. These comments humanise the company leadership but do not change the technical or commercial hurdles ahead.

Technical and regulatory challenges ahead

Converting promising preclinical science into an approved human therapy is a long and uncertain path. For in vivo reprogramming approaches several practical and safety questions are paramount. They include how to deliver the reprogramming cargo selectively to tumour cells, how to achieve reproducible conversion across heterogeneous human tumours, how to control the degree and duration of reprogramming, and how to prevent unintended immune reactions or autoimmunity. Regulatory frameworks for in vivo genetic or epigenetic modulation therapies are evolving. Companies pursuing such strategies must demonstrate rigorous safety data in non-clinical studies, develop scalable and GMP compliant manufacturing for delivery modalities, and run carefully staged clinical trials that measure both immune engagement and clinical endpoints.

Where Asgard fits in the European innovation ecosystem

Asgard’s story is typical of European deep tech life sciences startups. It began in academic labs, benefitted from incubator space, attracted public grants and later institutional investors. The European Innovation Council and related programmes provided visibility and networking avenues. EIC Business Acceleration Services including ePitching events serve as fundraising and investor readiness platforms. Grants and awards such as WomenTechEU and national innovation grants create milestone-based funding bridges between academic proof of concept and venture capital.

Cross-border mobility of talent is visible in Asgard’s trajectory. Founders moved from Portugal to Sweden to access resources at Lund University and the Nordic life science ecosystem. That pattern lines up with a broader European objective to retain and scale deep tech companies inside the region rather than losing them to the United States.

What to watch next

Key milestones to monitor include preclinical toxicology and biodistribution studies, the regulatory classification of the lead programme AT-108, IND or CTA filings in target jurisdictions, the first-in-human trial design and endpoints, and independent replication of published preclinical results. Commercial indicators include partnerships with larger pharmaceutical companies, additional financing rounds that extend the runway, and evidence that manufacturing and delivery can be scaled with predictable quality.

Asgard has publicised series of scientific publications and visible funding milestones up to a reported €30 million Series A. Those are meaningful steps for a biotech spin-out. Nevertheless, converting a novel in vivo reprogramming concept into a safe and effective human therapy remains a substantial challenge. Progress should be judged on transparent preclinical datasets, rigorous safety packages and stepwise clinical evidence rather than on conceptual promise alone.

Bottom line

Asgard Therapeutics is pursuing a bold and unconventional approach to cancer immunotherapy by attempting to convert tumour cells into antigen presenting dendritic cells in situ. The company has assembled scientific publications, an investor base and early grants that support further development. The approach is scientifically interesting and potentially disruptive if it proves safe and effective in humans. At the same time it faces substantial translational, manufacturing and regulatory work. Observers and potential partners should look for open data on delivery, specificity and safety as the company moves toward clinical testing.